Kensington resident, Hamida was born in Somalia. She and her family moved to Melbourne in 2010 and since then she has been an active community member. It was a long and difficult journey over many years to get here, but Hamida and her husband, Abdinasar’s determination, resilience and courage drove them to gain Australian Citizenship and then a year later to get a home for their family in Kensington.
Despite having seven children to care for, Hamida has always made time for her own learning. As soon as her children were old enough to attend childcare at Kensington Neighbourhood House, Hamida enrolled in English classes that ran at the same time as childcare. Abdinasar got a job in a factory as soon as he arrived and has now been working there for 9 years. He is very good at his job and will become a manager in the near future.
In addition to studying English, Hamida has become a representative on the Kensington Neighbourhood House’s Student Advisory Gro
up. This is a role where she provides input and guidance to house staff on a range of issues affecting the community. She is a ‘go to’ person in the community and is always willing to help where she can and is great at connecting people.
Hamida has a passion for cooking. She has taught cooking workshops and run fundraising events in the community. She helps out at Kensington Primary School every week and her sambusas (a Somali snack food) are famous in our neighbourhood.
A more recent interest is gardening. She is a member of the Kensington Food Forest team who established this community garden a few years ago and take care it. The garden is open to the public and a range of vegetables, fruit, flowers, trees and herbs are grown there.
Last year Hamida completed a Certificate III in Individual Support. She hopes to eventually work in Aged Care. She also wants to learn to swim soon.
Hamida really cares about her local Kensington community. She loves the environment in Kensington and enjoys many of the beautiful gardens. In her spare time Hamida enjoys doing word searches. She also loves colour. It makes her happy and she finds it keeps her calm and relaxed.
Hamida’s children, especially Intisar - love hearing their mum speak of her journey to Australia. Hamida doesn’t mind. Hers is a story of great courage and perseverance – qualities she will pass on to her children to help them live their best lives in their new home.